Side bet question for the Wizard and anyone else
February 3rd, 2011 at 12:30:42 PM
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A casino near me offers a side bet that pays 10 to 1 if you "push the dealer", which is the name of the leased felt logo. The Wizard did a breakdown of an almost identical game at Ceasar's Palace here: https://wizardofodds.com/blackjack/appendix8.html#tiebet . Overall this has a very small house edge and is a much smaller house edge than just playing blackjack under the bad rules at this particular casino.
HOWEVER, the game near me has a difference: splitting the tie bet is always optional. In the Wizard's strategy splitting the side bet is mandatory with any split. However, here you may split the blackjack hand either with a tie bet or without a tie bet- in any case you will still have the tie bet on the first hand. Obviously I assume this would likely change the basic strategy from what the Wizard has listed and cause more splits. What effect does this rule have on BS?
Full rules of the game:
Blackjack with 6 decks and 25-30% penetration
Blackjack pays 3:2
Dealer hits Soft 17
Split any two cards of the same value for up to four hands (except aces)
No resplitting aces
Double on any two cards
Double after split allowed
Sidebet:
Sidebet pays 10 TO 1 if you push the dealer
Sidebet may be UP TO 50% of your blackjack bet (I always take max for the Wizard's above strategy to make sense)
When you SPLIT any identical cards the sidebet is always optional for the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th hands (if you resplit that many times)
Notes: blackjack with the sidebet requires a dealer blackjack to tie (21 does not count). If player takes even money on a blackjack with dealer ace showing the sidebet still plays.
HOWEVER, the game near me has a difference: splitting the tie bet is always optional. In the Wizard's strategy splitting the side bet is mandatory with any split. However, here you may split the blackjack hand either with a tie bet or without a tie bet- in any case you will still have the tie bet on the first hand. Obviously I assume this would likely change the basic strategy from what the Wizard has listed and cause more splits. What effect does this rule have on BS?
Full rules of the game:
Blackjack with 6 decks and 25-30% penetration
Blackjack pays 3:2
Dealer hits Soft 17
Split any two cards of the same value for up to four hands (except aces)
No resplitting aces
Double on any two cards
Double after split allowed
Sidebet:
Sidebet pays 10 TO 1 if you push the dealer
Sidebet may be UP TO 50% of your blackjack bet (I always take max for the Wizard's above strategy to make sense)
When you SPLIT any identical cards the sidebet is always optional for the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th hands (if you resplit that many times)
Notes: blackjack with the sidebet requires a dealer blackjack to tie (21 does not count). If player takes even money on a blackjack with dealer ace showing the sidebet still plays.
